The Tees Valley landscape is unique in its mixture of coast, country and industry. Ian McNeal looks at our environment and how local firms are playing a green role in its development. The Tees Valley's location has long been held up as one of its major benefits. As a home for industry, Teesside has often been derided as unattractive by those from outside the region. But locals have always known that the quality of life offered by the briefest of rush hours, affordable housing - at least by national standards - and the ease of being able to travel abroad or to north or south of the country. The Tees Valley's location by the coast and the River Tees provided the economic basis for the growth of industry in our area. And the coastal resorts of Redcar, Saltburn, Seaton Carew and, further along the coast Whitby, remain popular day trips for Teessiders to this day. Who can resist the guilty pleasure of terrific lemon top ice cream of Redcar? Meanwhile, Saltburn is a now mecca for surfers and has been long since returned to its former Victorian splendour. In fact the town is now so popular that last year house prices in the town rocketed faster than almost anywhere else in the country. If you're brave enough, which many Teessiders of course are, you can even go for a bracing dip in the North Sea. Thousands of people have taken part in the annual boxing Day Dips at Seaton Carew and Redcar run by the Teesside Lions which raise huge sums for charity every year. A location by the sea is something many residents across the UK would gladly swap for. But the Tees Valley is not blessed with a coastal location alone, take a short drive out of Teesside and you're hit with the splendour of the North York Moors National Park. The rolling hills and beautiful villages attract tourists from across the world. Meanwhile the Cleveland Way, which takes in some of the UK's finest scenery, provides 110 miles of the best walking in northern England. But you do not have to travel out of the Tees Valley to find areas of important wildlife interest. Teesmouth Nature Reserve is an area of dunes, marshes and salt flats and is home to a large and varied bird population. And, as its name implies, Seal Sands is home to the only regular breeding colony of common seals on the North-east coast. The rich wildlife of Teesmouth co-exists with major industry. And it is industry which is playing its part in looking at ways to preserve the environment for future generations. Billingham-based Biofuels Corporation is building the world's biggest biodiesel plant at Seal Sands which will turn oilseed rape into 250,000 tonnes of fuel a year. Stockton-based D1 Oils is also developing a worldwide programme to produce biodiesel from jatropha trees and Petroplus produces Bio-plus, its own brand of biodiesel at its Seal Sands refinery. Alternative energy is a further area where Teesside is taking a lead. Although controversial, a wind farm has already been erected at the A19 near Hartlepool and further plans are mooted for an offshore development. And Middlesbrough company Marine Projects International is at the forefront of the new energy revolution. The firm installs offshore wind farms with its multi-million pound Resolution vessel and has won a string of contracts including a £20m deal to install 30 wind turbines off the Cumbrian coast. And behind the multi-million pound projects, numerous work goes on in communities across Teesside to make our environment a better place to live - from Britain in Bloom entries to charities such as Middlesbrough-based Teesside Play and Education Resource Centre which recycles waste from industry for use in creative play. | 
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